Handbag clasp



Oct. 2, 1956 v. L. PARSEGIAN HANDBAG CLASP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 9, 1953 INVENTOR w26/W L. Pqff/A/v BY a2/.ain Mm rif/M.

ATTORNEYS Oct. 2, 1956 v. L. PARSEGIAN 2,765,016

HANDBAG CLASP Filed July 9, 1953 FIG. IO.

FIG. 8.

FiG. 9.

i INVENTOR VZC/V L P/FSEG/A/ BY I @il MW md.

ATTO R N EYS HANDBAG CLASP Volcan L. Parsegian, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application July 9, 1953, Serial No. 367,068

S Claims. (Cl. 150-42) This invention relates to hand bags, e. g., ladies purses, and more particularly to an improved safety closure means for such bags that substantially reduces the possibility of the bag or purse being picked by a pickpocket.

Ladies hand bags commonly comprise a body portion and a flexible carrying strap by means of which the bag can be suspended from the arm or shoulder of the wearer. Such bags are usually provided with a simple manually operable latch and hence when they are worn in crowded areas such as subways and stores, it is a relatively simple matter for a pickpocket to select a time when the wearers attention is diverted and open the bag and remove valuables therefrom. While this deficiency of the conventional hand bag can be overcome by providing a conventional lock and key closure, it is not customary to use such a lock and key closure because the carrying and use of a key for this purpose is inconvenient and also because the key is likely to be lost or mislaid.

it is accordingly Ian object of the present invention to provide a simple yet eiective safety latch means for ladies hand bags that is capable of substantially reducing the possibility of the bag being opened by a pickpocket. it is another object of the invention to provide a safety latch means for =a hand bag that possesses the advantages of a conventional lock and key closure while at the same time eliminating its disadvantages. Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereafter.

The many objects and advantages of the present invention can best be understood and appreciated by reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate hand bags I incorporating a preferred embodiment and several moditications of the present invention.

in the drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary general perspective view of a hand bag showing the latch housing and cooperating latch operating member of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the latch housing on an enlarged scale showing certain details of the construction of the latch mechanism contained in the housing;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3 3 i of Figure 2 and showing further details of the latch mechanism;

Figure 4 is Ia detailed view showing one mode of attachment of the latch-actuating means to the carrying strap of the bag;

Figure 5 is a detailed view showing `a second method of attaching the latch-actuating member to the carrying strap;

Figure 6 is a detailed view showing a third method of attaching the latch-actuating member to the carrying strap;

Figure 7 is `a general perspective view of a diierent type of hand bag wherein closure is effected by means of a tlap overlying the top of the bag and extending down one side thereof. The latch housing of the present invention is shown near the lower end of the closure-Hap;

Figure 8 is essentially a top view of the latch housing of Figure 7, partly cut away to show details of the latch mechanism;

Figure 9 is a front view of the structure of Figure 8 showing further details of the latch mechanism; and,

Figure 10 is a general perspective view of a third type of hand bag with which the safety closure of the present invention may advantageously be used.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Figure l, the hand bag 20 comprises a body portion 22 having a closure comprising the conventional U-shaped frame members 24 and 26 pivoted 'at 28. A conventional carrying strap 30 is connected to the ends of the body portion 22 in conventional manner. Mounted on the frame member 26 there is a latch housing 32 that contains a latch mechanism described in detail below and is provided with an access opening 34 that provides access to the latch mechanism within the housing 32. The latch mechanism is actuated by insertion into opening 34 of a latch-actuating member 36 that is secured to the carrying strap 3i) at a point substantially spaced from its point of connection to the body portion 22. The length of portion 31 of strap 30, which extends from the point of attachment of the strap and body 22 to the actuating member 36, is made at least as great as, land preferably approximately equal to, the distance between the point of attachment of the strap and the opening 34. Thus the portion 31 of the strap acts to guide the actuating member 36 toward the opening 34 of the latch housing.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the housing 32 comprises telescoping top and bottom portions 38 and 40 that cooperate to define `a rectangular space. Secured to the bottom 40 are a pair of opstanding ears 42 and 44 that support a shaft 46 on which a pair of latch levers 48 and 50 are pivotally mounted. Mounted on the shaft 46 near the ends thereof are a pair of springs 52 and 54 that engage the levers 4S and 50 respectively and urge them in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3. The levers 4S and 50 are provided at their right-hand ends with downwardly extending ngers 56 that are adapted to engage the outer edge of frame member 24 and maintain the body portion of the bag closed. At their left-hand ends the levers 48 and 50 are provided with the upwardly extending actuating fingers 58 and 6l), respectively.

As best shown in Figure 2, the laccess opening 34 has a cross-shaped conguration and the actuating fingers 58 and 60 are located in different lobes of the cross. This asymmetric location of the actuating lingers 58 and 60 prevents unlatching of the bag by insertion of, for example, a pin, pencil or like object in the opening 34. The latch-actuating member 36 has a cross shaped conguration corresponding with that of the access opening 34 and the edges of opening 34 are bevelled to facilitate insertion of the actuating member 36 thereinto.

It is evident that in operation the latch levers 48 and are normally biased by the springs 52 and 54 in a direction to cause the bag to be latched in a closed position. Unlatching of the bag is effected by inserting the cross-shaped actuating member 36 into the opening 34 to depress actuating fingers 58 and 60 and thereby disengage the fingers 56 from the frame member 24 of the bag, thus Unlatching the bag.

The latch-actuating member 36 can be secured to the carrying strap 30 in any of a variety of ways. Thus as shown in Figure 4 the actuating member may be provided with a llange 62 and rivet 64 by means of which it is riveted to strap 30. In Figure 5 an alternative construction is shown wherein the actuating member 36 is provided with a rectangular base 66 and longitudinal aps 68 and 70 of strap 3l) are folded over the base 66 and sewed along the seam 72 to secure the actuating member to the strap. Figure 6 shows another alternative construction wherein the carrying strap is formed of two strips 74 and 76 having a spacing member 78 therebetween. The member 78 is cut away to form a recess 8l) in which the actuating member 36 is mounted. As shown in Figure 6, the actuating member 36 is mounted near one end of a resilient strip 82 that is secured at its other end to the carrying strap. The actuating member is positioned in registry with a hole S4 in the strip 74. Thus with the construction of Figure 6 the actuating member 36 is largely concealed within the carrying strap under normal circumstances but can be pressed through the opening 84 when it is desired to insert it in the opening 34 to unlatch the bag.

Y Figure 7 shows a somewhat diierent type of hand bag with a safety closure according to the present invention applied thereto. The bag of Figure 7 comprises a body portion 90, carrying strap 92, and closure flap 94 that extends over the top of the bag and down one side thereof. Mounted near the bottom of flap 94 there is a latch housing 96 containing a latch mechanism that is described below and is adapted to cooperate with a cylindrical latch actuating member 98 secured to the carrying strap 92.

Referring to Figures 8 and 9, the latch housing 96 contains a pair of latch levers 190 and 1tl2 that are pivotally mounted at 104 and 106, respectively, to the rear wall of the housing. The body portion of the bag opposite the housing 96 is provided with a latch plate 108 having a rectangular opening 110 therein. The latch levers 100 and 102 are offset inwardly in such manner that their lower ends are adapted to engage the side edges of the opening 110 in the latch plate 108. The two levers are interconnected near their centers by an elliptical spring 112 that tends to bias the central portions of the levers toward each other and hence urge the lower ends of the levers into engagement with the latch plate 168, thereby latching the closure flap 94 to body portion 90.

As best shown in Figure 8, the latch-actuating member 98 is secured to the carrying strap 92 by means of a rivet 114 and has a relatively narrow neck portion 116. As shown in Figures 7 and 9, the front of the latch housing 96 is provided with a vertical slot 11S. When it is desired to unlatch the bag the latch-actuating member 98 is inserted in housing 96 with the neck portion 116 in registry with the slot 118 of the housing. The actuating member is pushed downwardly in the housing and engages the levers 100 and 162 in such manner as to cause them to pivot outwardly around their pivots 104 and 166 against the action of spring 112. This pivoting movement of levers 100 and 162 causes the lower ends of the levers to become disengaged from latch plate 198, thereby unlatching the bag and permitting the closure flap 94 to bev raised.

Referring now to Figure 10 of the drawings, another type of hand bag is shown with which the present invention: can be used advantageously. The bag of Figure l() comprises a relatively large body portion 120 and relatively small body portion 122 that are secured together in any suitable manner. The large body 120 is provided with a conventional latch 124 and is adapted to contain; the manyl articles of relatively slight value that are commonly carried in such purses. The small body or purse 122 is adapted to contain valuable articles and is provided with the safety closure of the present invention, for example, the closure 126, which may be similar in construction to that shown in Figures 7 to 9 and previously described.

From the foregoing description it should be apparent that the structure of the present invention is capableof achieving the several objects outlined at the beginning of the present specification. A simple eitective safety latch-means for. ladies hand bags is provided that substantially reduces the possibility of the bagbeing opened by a pickpocket. In many conventional hand bags the naturev of the-clasp-or latch used is such that it can be released by. inadvertent striking of. the clasp or unintentional exertion of pressure thereon, whereas with the present construction this possibility is eliminated. In order to release the present latch, the latch-actuating member secured to the carrying strap must be positively moved to the latch housing by a conscious effort. The latch-actuating member can be secured to the strap at the same distance from the point of attachment of the strap to the body of the bag as is the access opening in the latch housing, and in this way the strap acts to position the actuating means in registry with the access opening of the latch housing and facilitates insertion of the actuating member into the housing.

It is of course to be understood that the foregoing description is illustrative only and that numerous changes can be made in the specic structure described without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus in the embodiment disclosed, the latch is actuated either by axial movement of the actuating member into the housing, or by sliding movement of the actuating member into the housing, but it is apparent that various other types of latch-actuating movement could be used such as insertion of the actuating member followed by a twisting movement or insertion of the actuating member along a curved path. If desired, more than one actuating member can be secured to the carrying strap of the bag and in the case of the two-compartment bag such as that shown in Figure l0, diierently constructed actuating members could be used for the latches of the two compartments. An advantage of using two actuating members as shown in Figure l() is that greater flexibility in operation is provided. Thus the bag can be held in any position and conveniently opened with either the right or left hand.

In the preceding description the carrying strap has been referred to as ilexible and it should be noted that this term is intended to be used in its broad sense to comprehend, for example, a carrying strap made of rigid sections connected byrhinged portions or other structure that is effectively flexible to permit movement to the latch of an actuating member that is mounted on the strap. It is further evident that the actuating member or members can, if desired, be mounted on the outside of the carrying strap. Other modifications within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. A hand bagY comprising a body portion, a flexible carrying strap secured to spaced points on said body portion, a latch housing mounted on said body portion, a latch comprising a pair of levers pivotally mounted in said housing and spring means for biasing said levers into engagement with said body portion to maintain said body portion closed, a single rigid latch-actuating member insertable into a single opening formed in said housing to pivot both said levers out of engagement with said body portion and thereby release said latch, said latch-actuating member being secured to said strap at a point sutliciently spaced from its point of attachment to said body portion to permit insertion of said actuating member into said housing.

2l A handbag according to claim l and wherein said latch actuating member is mounted Within said strap at a point substantially spaced from the point of attachment of said strap to said body portion and is movable out of said strap to engagesaid latch.

3. A handbag comprising a body portion having a closure comprising a pair of pivoted relatively movable frame members, a exible carrying strap secured to spaced points on said body portion, a latch housing mounted on one ofsaid frame members and containing latch means comprisinga pair of levers pivotally mounted in said housing and resiliently urged into engagement with the other frame member to4 maintain said body portion closed, and'a'single rigid' latch-actuating member insertable into a singlelopeningformed in said' housing to pivot both said levers out of engagement witli'said other frame member and thereby permit opening of said body portion, said latch-actuating member being secured to said strap at a point suiciently spaced from its points of attachment to said body portion to permit insertion of said actuating member into said housing.

4. A hand bag comprising a body portion having an opening in the top thereof and a closure ilap adapted to overle said opening and extend down one side of said body portion, a latch housing mounted on said ap, a latch plate secured to said body portion opposite said housing, latch means within said housing positioned to engage said latch plate to maintain said body portion closed, and a single rigid latch-actuating member insertable into a single opening formed in said housing to release said latch means, said latch-actuating member being secured to said strap at a point substantially spaced from the points of attachment of said strap to said body portion.

5. A hand bag comprising a body portion having an opening in the top thereof and a closure flap adapted to overlie said opening and extend down one side of said body portion, a flexible carrying strap secured to spaced points on said body portion, a latch housing mounted on said ap near the free end thereof, a latch plate secured to said body portion opposite said housing, a latch comprising a pair of levers pivotally mounted in said housing and movable into engagement with said latch plate to maintain said body portion closed and a spring interconnecting said two levers and biased to urge them into engagement with said latch plate, a latch-actuating member inser-table into said housing to pivot said levers against the action of said spring and disengage them from said latchplate, said latch-actuating member being secured to said strap at a point sulciently removed from its points of attachment to said body portion to permit insertion of said actuating member into said housing.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 164,752 Mix June 22, 1875 935,317 Moye Sept. 28, 1909 1,072,981 Partmann Sept. 9, 1913 1,176,448 Hohenstatt Mar. 21, 1916 1,241,890 Schrader Oct. 2, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS 925,060 France Aug. 25, 1947 

